Steal of a deal on an LR4 with issues

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LR4Slavo

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Hey ya’ll! Slavo from Denver here, new to the forum. I just picked up a ‘10 LR4 HSE Lux (I believe) 5.0 V8 Arctic white with 106k miles on the clock for $2k, but it clearly has its issues.

On the outside it’s in pretty good condition other thank a ding on the rear driver side corner which impacted the bumper a bit (a couple of small cracks that can be plastic welded), the lower tail gate which has a small but relatively easy to fix dent and smashed our tail light which needs to be replaced outright. Everything else appears to still function as it should. The bonus is that the car sits on brand new Bridgestone Blizzaks with fewer than 1k miles on them.

The backstory here is that the previous owner has been plagued with the even side of the engine throwing misfires (not uncommon from what I’ve been reading), this was addressed by replacing spark plugs and all of the injectors on that side. Injectors were replaced on a couple of occasions, the previous owner spent in excess of $7k addressing this with multiple Indy shops in the Denver area, issues which remained unresolved. The car ended up in the hands of the LR dealership for diagnostics. According to LR mechanics, in addition to the injector issues, there may of been an issue with the crossover coolant pipe, which resulted in overheating and a blown head gasket as well as the possibility of stretched timing chains. LR Recommendation is a $23k motor replacement... Yikes!

Previous owner just wanted to get rid of it, I got a sweet deal and the first time I started the car, to see where it was at since I’m already expecting at least a head gasket/timing chain job, at worst a motor replacement, checked fluids, topped off coolant as it was low, I got it to turned over fine and it did eventually start albeit rough followed by a massive plume of white sweet smelling smoke that came billowing out the exhaust - confirms the blown head gasket. However, once the coolant cleared, it’s not sucking in any additional (or not much) coolant and turning over without issue. When the motor is cold, it seems to fire up and runs a bit and doesn’t sound all that bad before cutting out. As it warms up a bit it feels like it’s firing on only half of the cylinders and cuts out faster.

My plan is to pull the spark plugs and injectors on that even bank to see how badly they’re fouled up. Question here is which side of the engine are the even numbered cylinders? The next being is there any other suggestions before I start tearing this motor apart? I plan on investing in an second hand IID tool to help with troubleshooting and overall maintenance.

I’ve read a ton on these motors before posting on here, and can see that if it’s overheated, I’ll likely need to get the head machined, the block re-tapped and sleeved for the head bolts, timing chains/tensioners replaced, get new injectors or have these tested and refurbished, replace the cross pipe, water pump and thermostat while I’m down there.

I’d like to very much fix the car as it’s a dope ride but I’m not opposed to parting it out should this become a full engine replacement.

Any opinions are appreciated!

Thanks so much


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LR4Slavo

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LR4Slavo

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Good luck!

If you didn't already come across my thread on another forum, it should provide you with a lot of information and lessons that I learned along the way.

https://landroverforums.com/forum/lr4-38/2011-lr4-5-0-head-gasket-replacement-documentation-98876/



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Hah that’s fantastic! I did see your thread a few weeks ago and was kicking myself for not saving it and I couldn’t find it again. How’s your LR4 running post rebuild? Any issues? Anything you’d do differently?


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AGLR4

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Just finished a 100mi round trip towing over some nice elevation. So far so good!

Nothing different comes to mind.

Some suggestions/opinions
1. Don't rush - give yourself plenty of time to keep the stress low and learn along the way
2. Not every specialty tool is necessary, but the 5 that really make the job possible are the fuel injector slide hammer, crank holding/pulley removal set, timing tool set, head bolt tool, and oil filter wrench.
3. You can redo the head bolt threads yourself with the ns300L kit, worked great!
4. Consider doing both banks. I wasn't positive where my leak was but found I had a leak on passenger side. Its not a ton more effort to do the other side while you are in there and then you know your whole top end is ready for another 100K miles. You certainly can just focus on what's broken but I preferred the peace of mind
5. Consider new valve seals and exhaust valves while the heads are off.
6. You got a great deal on the truck, don't cut corners on your parts. I shopped around online and went with all LR parts, no regrets so far. (Mostly sourced from https://www.landrovermerriamparts.com, great parts guys there that are willing to help, and good prices as well)

Feel free to ask questions along the way
39ac1a9f1a931ff4c8eeac014b936ff0.jpg


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ktm525

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I would be tempted to part it out and put profits into another rig but this could be a fun adventure. The thing that scares me is the history of never running right and many minds/$$s not being able to solve. These motors do not usually survive with just a head job after overheat. I would be tempted to pull the engine and do a complete go through at a leisurely pace. Standard practice is to lift the body off to get to the engine but I believe an engine removal has been achieved through the bay in the conventional way.
 

LR4Slavo

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Just finished a 100mi round trip towing over some nice elevation. So far so good!

Nothing different comes to mind.

Some suggestions/opinions
1. Don't rush - give yourself plenty of time to keep the stress low and learn along the way
2. Not every specialty tool is necessary, but the 5 that really make the job possible are the fuel injector slide hammer, crank holding/pulley removal set, timing tool set, head bolt tool, and oil filter wrench.
3. You can redo the head bolt threads yourself with the ns300L kit, worked great!
4. Consider doing both banks. I wasn't positive where my leak was but found I had a leak on passenger side. Its not a ton more effort to do the other side while you are in there and then you know your whole top end is ready for another 100K miles. You certainly can just focus on what's broken but I preferred the peace of mind
5. Consider new valve seals and exhaust valves while the heads are off.
6. You got a great deal on the truck, don't cut corners on your parts. I shopped around online and went with all LR parts, no regrets so far. (Mostly sourced from https://www.landrovermerriamparts.com, great parts guys there that are willing to help, and good prices as well)

Feel free to ask questions along the way
39ac1a9f1a931ff4c8eeac014b936ff0.jpg


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Thanks for the tips AGLR4, I’m certainly not in a hurry on this rebuild, and as you pointed out I’m also not going to skimp on quality parts since I’ve saved a good amount on the car.

Your thread gave me the the inspiration to go consider this “adventure” seeing as you’ve done such a fantastic job on their rebuild. It was a pleasure reading up on your thread, very well documented. I’m glad to hear she’s still running strong! How many miles have you put on since the rebuild?

Are you looking to part with any of the head tools post rebuild? ie Timing tool set, head bolt tool and/or NS300L kit (I understand that I’ll have to reach out to Norm for more sleeves sleeves). Seeing if I can save a few bucks getting used quality tools.


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LR4Slavo

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I would be tempted to part it out and put profits into another rig but this could be a fun adventure. The thing that scares me is the history of never running right and many minds/$$s not being able to solve. These motors do not usually survive with just a head job after overheat. I would be tempted to pull the engine and do a complete go through at a leisurely pace. Standard practice is to lift the body off to get to the engine but I believe an engine removal has been achieved through the bay in the conventional way.
Thanks for the reply KTM525 - My idea is that it will all depend on how things look when I crack open the motor, if the motor is not salvageable then I’ll consider parting it out.

Parting it out will definitely make me money and is not out of the question but it’s really not the priority, I also have to deal with the logistics of that process (the time spent disassembling, posting, shipping if not local of everything, then dealing with the straggler parts that don’t sell).

I’ve been following another thread of a guy putting in a Jaguar XF motor in which I understand is the same, seeing if that’s a possibility as well if this one is too far gone.

Touching on your point of failed head jobs, do you have some more info on those examples? Were the rebuilds as comprehensive as AGLR4’s? It’s a concerning thought considering all that time and money spent getting this redone and it failing in the end.


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AGLR4

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How many miles have you put on since the rebuild?

Are you looking to part with any of the head tools post rebuild? ie Timing tool set, head bolt tool and/or NS300L kit (I understand that I’ll have to reach out to Norm for more sleeves sleeves). Seeing if I can save a few bucks getting used quality tools.


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About 5K miles so far. That includes towing, so have not been taking easy.

As far as tools, I have been holding onto them for now. But we can talk later if you don't find something elsewhere. I have rented out the ns300l kit once already, so that would be easy if you want to do that.
dad13a87da4358de5af8674ff8683aae.jpg


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AGLR4

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Touching on your point of failed head jobs, do you have some more info on those examples? Were the rebuilds as comprehensive as AGLR4’s? It’s a concerning thought considering all that time and money spent getting this redone and it failing in the end.


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My thoughts are these:
- If done right on a solid foundation I so far have 5000 miles of hard driving to prove that it can be done
- Doing it right would include quality parts and not skipping steps like machining the head.
- The solid foundation would be making sure you are working on a good block. In my case I don't think there was a history of overheating so I had a straight block to work off of. I could theoretically see a case where the head gasket failure causes damage to the block in that area over time. This should be obvious once you strip it down and set a straight edge over it. The 2nd element of the solid foundation would be to make sure that you don't rely on the old aluminium threads within the block to hold new head bolts. I almost went this route until I noticed one of the bolts did not thread in cleanly. It was hard to detect but the threads were damaged. I imagine others have tried to use the old threads and obtained improper torque due to thread binding. Or the fresh bolts simply pull out of the weak old threads shortly after the rebuild. Apparently this is not unusual for steel bolts into an aluminum block after hundreds of heat cycles (especiallyif there was an overheat, therefore a solution has been developed in the form of steel inserts. (Timesert or NS300L) My opinion is don't just fix one hole, do them all so that you can rely on those anchor points. I have heard of some tightening one of the last head bolts only to strip it and need to start all over.

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